Snowboards are used for sports recreation, as well as competitive sport racing on snow covered downhill slopes. There are currently two versions of the sport of snowboarding, hard boot snowboarding and soft boot snowboarding. The invention relates to hard boot snowboarding.
Hard boot snowboarding uses a boot that has a standardized sole, similar to an alpine ski boot. The hard boot interacts with a snowboard by means of a plate binding. Standard plate bindings for snowboards consist of a base plate which has a surface area equal to or greater than the surface area of the hard boot sole. The binding is attached to the snowboard with its entire surface area flush with the top surface of the snowboard.
As a result of this large surface area contact of the binding with the snowboard, the ability of the snowboard to flex in the binding contact area is completely inhibited. Consequently, when the snowboard flexes, such as when a rider executes a carve turn, the arc of flex of the snowboard is not a true arc. Instead, the snowboard flexes in a partial arc wherein the apex of the arc is flattened in the area of the binding and snowboard contact. The inability of the snowboard to flex in a complete arc impacts the rider's ability to properly execute a carve turn, makes for a rough ride and reduces the rider's control over the snowboard. This flattened arc syndrome has been a problem for years, not only in the snowboard industry, but also in the alpine ski industry.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,924 by Barci for "Hard Shell Boot Snowboard Bindings and System", issued Dec. 22, 1992; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,236,216 by Ratzek for a "Binding for Snowboards", issued Aug. 17, 1993, both generally disclose a hard boot binding for a snowboard. Both of these bindings are flush mounted to a top surface of a snowboard by means of a base plate which has a surface area equal to or greater than a sole of a hard boot. The base plate is mounted upon a top surface of a snowboard and serves as a platform for attachment of various other binding parts. Such a flush mounting of a binding is not desirable, because, as previously mentioned, the snowboard is prohibited from flexing into a true arc. Rather, the apex of the flex arc of the snowboard is flattened in the area of the binding mounts. Therefore, the snowboard is unable to achieve its complete and natural flex arc during snowboarding maneuvers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,386 by Schweizer for a "Binding Mounting Apparatus", issued Feb. 23, 1993, generally discloses an apparatus for a standard plate binding for attaching the binding to and adjusting the binding upon a snowboard. The binding provides a means by which to adjust the rotational angle and the cant angle of the binding relative to the top or mounting surface of the snowboard. Schweizer does describe a riser ring of rubber for adjusting the rotational and cant angles of the binding. However, as is evident from FIG. 1 of the Schweizer patent, the surface area of riser ring 25 is encompassed and exceeded by the surface area of the binding plate 22 (See also FIG. 12), as well as the adapter plate 45 (See FIGS. 10 and 11). Accordingly, a flattening of the flex arc of a snowboard on which the Schweizer binding was mounted would occur due to the large surface area coverage of the binding plate 22 and the adapter plate 45. Furthermore, in order for the Schweizer binding to perform in conjunction with the latest snowboards, the adapter plate 45 would have to be mounted beneath riser ring 50 (See FIG. 1), an embodiment preferred by Schweizer. Such a binding mount scheme would affect the flex arc of a snowboard, flattening the arc even more.
Another standard part which all standard plate bindings use are bails. The bails secure a snowboard hard boot within the binding. A typical plate binding has a front bail for securing the toe portion of a hard boot and a rear bail for securing the heel portion of a hard boot. Typically, a bail is "U" shaped with an inward facing, right angle projection at the end of each stem (hereinafter "stem ends") of the "U" for attaching the bail to a base plate of a snowboard binding. The bail is attached to the base plate by means of tension by stretching the bail and allowing the stem ends to snap into place in recesses within each side of the base plate. The bail stem ends are then typically secured within the base plate by means of an "e" clip or other suitable equivalent.
A considerable disadvantage of a standard bail is that it eventually breaks at the high stress point of the right angle of the stem end where the bail attaches to the binding. Each pair of bindings consists of four bails for a total of eight stem end right angles which will break. Because hard boot snowboarding is usually performed at a high rate of speed, considerable stress is placed upon the bails. Additionally, the probability is extremely high that a bail will break or fail while a snowboard is being ridden. When a bail breaks, the rider's boot is ejected from the binding and the rider will fall, creating a high likelihood of physical injury. Obviously, this inherent weakness of standard bails is very undesirable, disadvantageous and dangerous for riders who engage in hard boot snowboarding.
Other disadvantages of standard bails are that the length of the bail relative to the plate binding is not adjustable and the attachment of the stem end of the bail to the binding plate is not stable and secure and, consequently, the bail has much play in it. The inability of the standard bail to be adjusted and its insecure binding attachment prevents a rider from fine tuning the fit of the rider's hard boot within the binding. Therefore, the hard boot is not seated as securely within the binding as it could be, resulting in a loss of performance interaction between the boot, binding and snowboard, as well as an increase in the possibility of of the rider from the bindings with an attendant likelihood of physical injury. The inability to adjust the bails is further unfavorable considering all the different sizes and shapes of hard boots currently available. Every rider's performance and safety is compromised, because the rider is unable to achieve an optimum boot and binding fit.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,654 by Meyer for a "Plate Release Binding Winter Sports Device", issued Sep. 3, 1991; U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,632 by Prestipino Giarritta et al. for a "Safety Fastenings for `Surf` Snowboards", issued Sep. 11, 1990; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,202 by Miller for a "Snowboard Release Binding", issued Sep. 8, 1992; all generally disclose a standard bail. As shown in FIGS. 10, 4 and 13, respectively, the bail is attached to the binding with a right angle bend at the point of insertion of the bail into the binding. Such an arrangement of the bail and binding is undesirable for all of the reasons previously stated, notably the high stress forces which occur at the right angle bail bend during use. This simplistic bending of the bail at a right angle and then inserting the bail into the binding is time and cost effective for a manufacturer, but extremely compromising of the performance and safety of a snowboard rider.
Obviously, there is a need in the hard binding snowboard industry for a binding with bails which can withstand the stresses placed upon the bails by a rider while snowboarding. Additionally, there is a need for a hard binding which will allow the snowboard to achieve its natural flex arc during maneuvers while being ridden by a rider.